Dek Unu Magazine Pond Feb 2023

Gna

Magazine
© Dek Unu Arts, 2023

Eleven

This is Dek Unu Magazine. In Esperanto, dek unu means "eleven." Eleven
images from a single artist. Eleven artists in eleven solo issues in each publication
year. Dek Unu publishes the work of a new artist-photographer in each issue. The
artist's work and words are featured in individual focus as the sole purpose for
each issue of the magazine. Unlike other arts and letters magazines which might
look for work from a variety of artists to support an editorial staff's theme, at Dek
Unu, theme and imagery are always each artist's own. Dek Unu is committed to
issue-to-issue diversity and artist selection decisions are made without regard to
career stage or pedigree.

This Month
"As | See It” is artist-photographer Lori Pond’s meditation on
perception, on how we “see” — physiologically, intellectually, and

emotionally. Citing brain research that shows that perception is, first
of all, a survival mechanism (“Can this eat me? Can | eat it?”), she
documents the order and intensity with which we evaluate what we
see. The images in this series start as captures of public-domain oil
paintings and royalty-free stock photos and end up radically different,
and much more interesting, artworks on their own. The new artworks
that Pond makes show that, while perception may start as a survival
reflex, there is much more to “seeing” than that. Using her skill as a
graphic designer and her masterful handling of Photoshop, she chops
and slices, lifts and zooms, and, adding the special sauce that makes
her work uniquely her own, she creates new art that is far superior to
the sum of its parts.

Pond works in series and her catalog contains sections ranging from
gritty street photography ("1980’s LA" and "Passengers") through
delicate visual haiku ("Open Landscapes") to the cerebral and surreal
("Menace" and "Bosch Redux"). In each case, the photographs hang
together in a way that indicates the range and depth of her thinking,
her sharp technical command, and her talent for seeing with her
eyes, her brain, and her heart. Start here, with “As | See It,” but do
not miss the rest of the fun at loripond.com. D>

"A girl walks into a bar...” And, that’s exactly what happened! One night, not too long ago,
| walked into Walt’s Bar, one of my neighborhood hangs. They have “Fine Wine, Pinball
and Vegan Hot Dogs." Inside, there’s a beat-up oil painting that | took a picture of. That
was the beginning of “Walt.” To me, his receding hairline and his very feminine-looking
mouth were what jumped out at me and made me configure this image the way it is.

Walt

JMC stands for Julia Margaret Cameron, the pioneering British photographer who is
considered one of the most important portrait photographers of the 19th century. Getty
Images has a few royalty-free digital photos of hers, including this image, “A Bacchante.”
The model's eyes were so sorrowful and downcast, | emphasized that area of her face,

making her eye the centerpiece of the new image. Also eye-catching were her lips and
her hair ornament.

JMC

Earlier this year, | went on a tour to Rubel Castle which is on the U.S. Register of Historic
Places. It was constructed in Glendora, California, between 1959 and 1986. It is built out
of concrete and nontraditional materials including scrap steel, rocks, bedsprings, coat
hangers, bottles, and other repurposed materials. The place even has a drawbridge! |
toured the exterior and interior, which included all sort of interesting artwork. |
photographed this oil painting and was immediately drawn to her sweet facial
expression and her delicate hand position.

Portrait of a Lady

| photographed this oil painting at the Norton Simon Museum of Art in Pasadena. |
was struck by the white flower the subject had in her hair, so | decided to make it very
prominent in my photograph, to the point of replicating it in different sizes. This image
was the first in which | used a wash of color to bring certain parts of the image into the

background.

White Flower

| took this photograph of Dinah Shore at the Ojai Valley Inn. She is the epitome of
Hollywood's definition of femininity in the 1950s. | emphasized her right eye (especially
the perfect eyelash!) and her shiny, wet lips.

Dinah

This image came from an auction house that was selling this anonymously-painted portrait.
What | felt most compelling about this image was her wasplike waist—how she was able to
breathe is unknown. Her hair also deserved notice from me. | think the pinched expression

on her face says it all...

Victorian Lady

This is from another royalty-free image from Getty Images. It originally was a tapestry
depicting Napoleon reveling in all his finery. When | looked into his eyes, | immediately
flashed to Vladimir Putin's face and realized how similar they are. Both men’s eyes are flat,
emotionless, lacking in any expression other than one of sheer boredom, mixed with a
dash of supreme dominance over all.

Napoleon/Putin

This model's mouth was for me the most interesting aspect of her. Her mouth evoked her
sensuality and to me indicated a welcoming, inquisitive nature. What happens between the
original image and the altered one, you may ask? Well, I’m trying to ask myself the survival

questions my brain has already processed. There are basically two questions: “Will it attack
me?” Or, “Can | attack it?”

Neptunian Haze Redux

This is also an anonymously-painted portrait and, to me, the positioning and posturing of
the subject's hand is indicative of non-aggression; therefore |'ve made it the most prominent
feature in the altered image.

Dignitary

As in “White Flower,” earlier in this series, with this anonymously-painted portrait | have made
use of a color wash to deemphasize parts of the subject. | think my brain would latch on to the
eye first and her hair second. The eye is looking directly at the viewer, but it’s not aggressive,
just frank. Her hair is ornately curled, giving the impression of femininity and, with that, a
certain weakness.

Doily

The features | chose to accentuate in this anonymously-painted portrait (i.e. lips, top of head)
indicate right away to the brain that this is nothing to be afraid of. No worries of being
attacked here!

Aristocrat

Artist Interview - Lori Pond

Welcome to Dek Unu, Lori! This is beautiful art with a
deep backstory. Fill us in?

"As I See It" got started as a result of an epileptic seizure. I
came out of the seizure experience realizing my waking
consciousness isn’t what is in control of me. There’s a deep,
subconscious river of emotion and thought that is in charge.
The seizure made me curious about the workings of my brain,
and I started to read as much as I could about it to make
myself more informed and, thus, less scared of what my brain
can do. The series examines and reproduces the fact,
according to neurological studies that I've read, that our
brains, as a survival mechanism, can only process a few things
at a time. Most of the information we take in visually is
thrown out.

Lori Pond

For this project, I pick out what I notice the most in an image
and by sectioning, rotating, scaling, and coloring, I try to
replicate the way my brain, not my eyes, selects what's
important to see.

Your training was in the Humanities, though, not in
BioScience.

I lived in Anaheim until I was 17. I was itching to get out of
that safe, quiet, and very conservative Los Angeles suburb; so,
I went to Indiana University’s School of Music in Bloomington,
which had students from all over the world. I intended to
become a professional flautist in an orchestra, but the world
had other plans for me. I did graduate with a double major in
music performance and Spanish. When I was told upon
graduating that I would have to fly all over the country
attending orchestra auditions for jobs paying $10,000/year, I
made a quick decision to abandon classical music and apply to
the University of Southern California's School of Journalism as
a graduate student. I thought I would be both a music critic
and make documentaries about classical music/musicians for
my life’s work, and I did make a documentary (on paper, that
is) about 7 musicians in the Los Angeles Philharmonic. I
graduated with an MA in Broadcast Journalism, and I quickly
found a job as a production assistant at a cable show about
medicine.

How did you end up in Hollywood?

I decided being a critic of other musicians wouldn’t be right
for me, either, so I started climbing the Hollywood ladder of
low-paying, long-hours jobs. I worked as a PA at many
different productions until I landed a job at a post-production
facility called Varitel Video. Because the place had no
electronic graphics people on staff, I was trained to operate the
Chyron. Chyron is the name of the company that makes
graphics equipment for broadcast television production. I
learned how to make show titles, simple graphics for various
shows, and credit information. I worked on newscasts, a show
called Hard Copy, and various other freelance jobs. After many
years, I “graduated” to making (and playing back live) graphics
for major live productions like the Academy Awards, Grammys,

American Music Awards, Dancing with the Stars, and Access
Hollywood. 1 then went on to work for ten years on Conan
O’Brien’s talk show. For Dancing, I created the graphics: team
names, scores, the voting phone number, and specialty
graphics that were required from time to time. For Conan, I
created news-style graphics for Conan’s monologue and
various comedy bits the writers would come up with, and I
created some animations and what are called “lower third”
graphics for different skits, along with the daily credits. None
of this work was automated—everything was manually
inputted and played back during the live broadcasts as the
competition unfolded.

How did photography come to be part of the mix?

My Dad was a hobbyist photographer who loved going out to
Joshua Tree in the springtime to take pictures of the
wildflowers springing up from the desert floor. I toddled along
after him and soon discovered I loved doing that as well. My
Dad had a makeshift darkroom in the garage at home, and I
would watch and help him make his prints. I was hooked!
Every once in a while, I would borrow his 35mm Minolta SRT-
101 and do my best. I became the editor of my junior high
newspaper, and I gave myself the job of newspaper
photographer, too. I used a Polaroid Land Camera, and I still
love making Polaroids to this day! I don’t remember a
particular photo starting me on my way, but a decisive moment
in my photographic career took place when I decided to use my
student loan for a new Nikon FE and four lenses. One of the
first projects I undertook with that camera was shooting street
on Melrose Ave, on Hollywood Blvd., at Venice Beach, and at a
mental institution in San Pedro. The resulting images, which I
developed and printed myself, now exist in digital form on my
website, www.loripond.com under the title “1980s LA.”

Throughout my whole TV career, I was making and exhibiting

my photographs and realized that photography was really
what I wanted to spend my time with. After working for over
30 years in TV, I still have anxiety dreams about being on a live
production, only to find out, 5 seconds before air, someone has
swapped out my keyboard for another one that I don’t
recognize at all! I reckon these dreams are a manifestation of
the stress and anxiety I was constantly feeling while working
on such high-stress productions, inside a very hierarchical,
ego-driven industry. So, [I’ve since retired and am looking
forward to spending the rest of my life with my art. I figure
life is too short to not enjoy every moment available to me.

Self-portrait: "ADHD"

You have worked with a number of well-known photographers.
Anyone who deserves a round of applause?

I can’t overstate the influence and guidance provided by noted
photographer Aline Smithson, whom I’ve known now for
about 13 years. I took her classes, called “The Next,” at the LA
Center for Photography which were what propelled me into
making photography an intentional, conceptual, lifelong series
of projects. It was after taking her classes that I learned how to

make cohesive, meaningful work and how to exhibit it to the world.

I would also like to mention Jo Ann Callis, with whom I studied
at UCLA Extension. She taught me that photography could be
something more than just literal imagery. She introduced me
to the idea of illustrating my deepest thoughts, fears, desires,
etc. through photography, for which I am very grateful.

Talk about your creativity. Where do you find inspiration?

My work comes from both internal and external sources. My
series, “Bosch Redux,” was inspired by the artwork of
medieval painter Hieronymus Bosch. I photographically
recreated details of his work using live models, (i.e., my
friends!) wardrobe stylists, propmasters, and prosthesis
makers among others to get as close as I could to the original
Bosch artwork.

From "Bosch Redux"

For my series, “Learning to Walk in the Dark,” I
illustrated each line of a poem written by a dying woman
in a Buddhist hospice. For “As I See It,” the construct and

conception of the idea behind the work didn’t really come
together until after I had made a few images. I played with the
images in Photoshop, refining the selection technique I
eventually made a “recipe” for, so I could duplicate my efforts
in subsequent images. My series, “Measuring the Soul” was a
series I made during the beginning of the pandemic, and it
was born out of visiting botanical gardens and using only one
lens (a Lensbaby) to capture the mood I was in.

I’ve also been influenced by dreams and visions. I’m currently
working on a video project called “The 1,000 Faces of Buddha”
which is inspired by a vision I had after drinking ayahuasca
tea. I saw a seated, golden Buddha against a golden
background with its head changing every split second. I took
from that vision a realization that we are all the Buddha—we
are all one, in spite of our differences.

Many of us belong to a gang, a group that can provide a
first audience for new work. Do you?

Yes, I do show my new work/ideas to my great friend, Claudia
Kunin, who in her work takes a still photograph, animates it,
then makes it 3D. I love to bounce ideas off her and to get her
unvarnished, honest opinion on whatever I’m working on. She
is invaluable! I was in a photographer’s critique group for
about 8 years that was moderated by Aline Smithson and met
once every two months. It’s where I and the others would
premiere all our new work for the first time. It was very
valuable for me to see which images resonated with people,
and which ones didn’t. Oftentimes, I was surprised by the
reactions, but overall, I was able to see in microcosm how new
work would be received by the world at large. And lately, I'm
in another informal critique group that consists of one other
photographer, a textile designer, an oil painter, and a
psychiatrist who makes sculptures.

You've also given back to the wider L.A. photo community
in several ways.

I'm a member of the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel
and the Los Angeles Center of Photography. I also recently
started acting as an advisor for Pasadena Photography Arts,
which puts on alternating shows — Open Show Pasadena / East
LA, and Forum. Open Show takes a close look at 3-4
photographers' work over an often exhilarating evening.
Forum is a topic-driven show which focuses on ideas and
techniques but also features work by photographers. Right
now, we're offering work by our advisors (including myself) in
our Print Shop: www.pasadenaphotographyarts.org/print-shop.

What do you look for in new work you encounter? Anything
you particularly like? Anything you prefer to avoid?

I always am on the lookout for unique work — work that I
haven’t seen before. That being said, I’m crazy about a good
traditional landscape or portrait. If the landscape or portrait
has been tweaked in an original way, I’m all about that, too. I
think I am a tough sell because I see over and over again the
same types of photos that seem to reflect trends rather than an
artist’s originality. I prefer work that encompasses what I like
to call “deep seeing.” That means the more I look at it, the
more I see because it’s so deeply layered and insightful. I like
looking at all photography, except for nude photography that
borders on pornography.

Analog, digital, both? If the wet darkroom still appeals to
you, have you gone in the alt-process direction?

I started out shooting with a 35mm Nikon FE. “1980s LA” was
shot with this camera. I did abandon film for digital in the
early 2000s, when I bought a 3-megapixel Nikon that was
all the rage. As technology kept getting better, I upgraded my

cameras, but I now have to admit that I shoot a lot with my
iPhone 12 Pro Max. It’s the camera I have on me ALWAYS, so it
gets used the most, despite its obvious inferior optics and
resolution. I did take a detour into 19th century photographic
techniques when I made my wet plate collodion series,
“Strange Paradise,” which was all shot with a 4x5 box camera
and self-developed. That was really fun, but I quickly realized
all the toxic chemicals I was working with were severely
detrimental to my health, so I stopped. I hope to get back to it,
though.

(ia )

"Cigarette" Street photograph from "1980s LA"

Have you seen changes in your work with the changeover
to digital?

I have evolved from making street photography to more
conceptual work as I get older. I think for me Photoshop has
been the main reason why I’m able to delve into more
conceptual work. As my skills with Photoshop have increased
over the years, I can express more and more abstract ideas
and create fantastical environments in which to make work.

What role does social media / electronic publication and
promotion play in your plan?

Social media is very important to me, and I show all my work
on Facebook and Instagram as posts, stories and/or reels. My
social media contacts are great barometers to test out how my
work rests with people. The biggest audience for my work is
online, so I cultivate that audience with regular promotional
posts, too, in addition to showcasing my artwork. Occasionally,
I'll send out a newsletter, but I think seeing an image, rather
than writing about it, captures more of my audience’s
attention.

What about tools of the trade? Anything (cameras, lenses,
software...) that makes the work easier? More fun?

Believe it or not, the most indispensable tool in my
photography kit is my iPhone, only because I have it with me
at all times. However, I have enjoyed and still do enjoy taking
out my massive Nikon full-frame DSLR (D810) with all the
accompanying lenses to get pristine shots. I also made an
entire body of work (“Measuring the Soul”) using my Sony
mirrorless camera (A7RII) with just one lens, a Lensbaby
“Sweet 35.” This lens creates selective (and difficult, I might
add!) focusing and creates amazing specular highlights. I just
discovered a Polaroid Impulse camera that was hiding in a
closet, so ’ve been experimenting with that, too. And, I’ve had
great fun playing with 19th-century-era 4x5 box cameras,
making ambrotypes and tintypes with them. I’ve also
converted a DSLR into an infrared-only camera, which
produces dramatic results.

What's next? A new project, show, book, adventure?

I do have a video project underway that is currently called “The
1,000 Faces of Buddha,” which I mentioned earlier in this
interview. It involves taking pictures of people, plants, animals,

and objects to create 1,000 faces, which I superimpose onto an
image of a seated headless Buddha. I'm in the process now of
shooting all the faces. I'm also applying to a variety of
residency opportunities, so I can expand on and create new
ideas in a different environment.

Links to much more ...
www.loripond.com
instagram.com/loriapond/

facebook.com/lori.pond.7
Inquiries: lori at loripond dot com

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